At Long Last, We Can All Finally Rock Red Lipstick
Do you remember the horror that was red lipstick in the early 2000s? Beauty campaigns rarely featured women of colour and when they did, the images aired on the side of ash. In real life, it’s always best to air on the side of caution but the beauty industry really had western beauty and red lipstick in a chokehold.
Similarly, whenever they did come out with red lipstick I would never buy it. I am a huge fan of representation and if I don’t see a black woman wearing something, it’s unlikely that I will set the pace. With fashion, that’s a completely different matter. But for beauty, there are times when a girl thinks she looks great and then she stands in front of flash photography. Two words. No ma’am.
But luckily for us millennials and gen-z humans, women have found a new voice in the marketplace. We have a greater opinion on what it means to be a woman, and how we’d like to look. One of my pet peeves is having straight, narcissistic men tell women what looks good on them and what doesn’t. Stay out of women’s business is my philosophy. Unless you married, in which case sure. Have a respectful opinion when the time is right (which it rarely ever is).
Rihanna, the singer and global businesswoman has been curating her cosmetics line for many years. She has now rolled out a skincare line too! But more on Fenty Skin later. The jewel of the moment comes in her new Icon lipstick line. I think one of the reasons we support Rihanna so much is not only her growth as a businesswoman but her ability to do business in the correct manner.
In the 21st century with social injustice and a drive towards cohesion, inclusion is a huge part of the global marketplace. Fenty Beauty was created with inclusion in the very fabric of the company’s DNA. Who wouldn’t want to get behind that? Her new lipstick range is highly pigmented (meaning you can use less to achieve more), and is centred around being neutral and an everyday red lipstick. Just like any other woman.
Check out the latest range of Fenty Beauty’s Icon lipstick here.
